Judge Sends Mayor of Unknown Party Affiliation Directly to Jail

Big Mac Daddy Kwame is heading to the joint. Would have been nice if the story told us what party he belongs to, although we do already know that. The point is if he were with the GOP, the word Republican would have led off the story.

Just saying. Oh, and no, he's not going away for his fashion crimes.

Judge Ronald Giles just sent Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to jail moments after the mayor pleaded for forgiveness and admitted he made an unauthorized trip to Windsor on city business.

"The first day you were before me, I thought I made it clear to you that this court comes first in everything," Giles said. "I do understand that you're under...pressure...but I have to look at how the system should be run and perceived by the public."

"At the beginning of this case you were given every privilege that could be given to you with regard to travel," Giles said, adding that he later imposed restrictions after learning Kilpatrick had been abusing his privileges.

"At that time I made it perfectly clear ... don't come back ... ," he said.

Court officials said Kilpatrick would remain in jail until he either posts the full $75,000 bond or until his lawyers can persuade a Wayne County Circuit Court judge to overturn the decision. But first, Kilpatrick would be taken to the 36th District Court detention area.

Giles’ jailing of Kilpatrick leaves no clear line of authority in who is running the city because there currently is no deputy mayor. Anthony Adams has temporarily relinquished his deputy mayor duties to be the interim director of the Water and Sewerage Department, and Kilpatrick said at the time of that announcement that chief of staff Kandia Milton and chief operating officer Cathy Square would divide up Adams’ deputy mayor duties.

The charter provides that in the “absence or temporary disability” of the mayor that the deputy mayor is the acting mayor.

Giles comments came after Kilpatrick told the judge he had been living under incredible pressure for the past 7 months.

"I don't believe that there is a person that's ever been through this process that respects it more than I do," Kilpatrick said, referring to the legal proceedings stemming from the 8 felonies ranging from conspiracy to perjury to misconduct in office to obstruction of justice filed against him in March.

"Last week was a tremendous wake-up call to me," he said, referring to Giles' rebuke last month after he allegedly assaulted law enforcement officials trying to serve a subpoena.

I just hope he's out in tiem to attend the Democrat Convention.

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Update: Whoops.